


Object

by Cyane



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (sort of), Android Racism, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Connor Deserves Happiness, Father-Son Relationship, Gavin Reed Redemption, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, Protective Hank Anderson, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sort Of, and gavin is actually pretty cool in this, connor kinda needs to realize that being an android doesn't mean people can be shitty to him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 00:21:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15498114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyane/pseuds/Cyane
Summary: Gavin's new partner has a plan for 'taking care' of Connor. It takes Gavin a while to realize that he isn't okay with that happening. (Hank isn't, either.)





	Object

**Author's Note:**

> I don't like Gavin tbh he's a fucking asshole but in this fic he's a lil nicer because Connor deserves it ok? maybe he's a little ooc but it's necessary fight me  
> TW: make sure to read tags! there's no graphic anything, but just be careful. also there is A LOT of cursing wow

Hank hated androids. That wasn't a statement that shocked many people, including those who didn't know him. Hating androids wasn't a strange or surprising thing, especially given the number of deviant-related killings spreading like wildfire throughout the city. 

But his new partner, Connor-- RK800-- wasn't like other androids Hank had encountered. 

For one thing, Connor wasn't emotionless. That was clear as daylight to Hank, even if he hadn't admitted it aloud. He saw Connor's attempts to befriend him, giving him the third-degree about his taste in sports, about Sumo, about his interests. He saw Connor's eyes narrow, the minuscule micro-expressions that he knew the android wasn't even aware of. 

Maybe Hank wouldn't go so far as to say that Connor _had_ emotions, but he definitely wasn't lacking them. 

Besides, Sumo had taken an instant liking to Connor, something Hank resented deeply, and Sumo could get pretty damn defensive. If his damn dog liked the kid... er, the _android_ , then Hank couldn't hate Connor completely. 

Hank liked the look of rare surprise that filled Connor's expression when he was complimented, or given permission to do something on his own. In those moments, Connor didn't seem like a robot, he seemed like a guy who had been sent into a world that saw him as a machine, thinking he was a machine, without anyone to dispute it. Like it was a fact.

"What do you have, Connor?"

Connor nodded quickly, eyes scanning the room. "The victim was forty-seven, Amelia Alexander. Female. A history of drug abuse, mainly red-ice alongside several narcotics. There are large amounts of thirium that trace through the main hall and stairwell, and signs of a struggle. Since the front door was locked from the inside, and was when the first respondents arrived, there is an eighty-nine percent chance the deviant escaped through the side door and went east--"

While Connor rattled off evidence, several other officers had arrived on the scene, including Gavin Reed and one of the newer officers Hank recognized, Jacob Benton. They walked up beside Hank and listened for a good three seconds before Gavin scoffed loudly, cutting Connor off.

Connor looked up, a bit confused, and tilted his head ever so slightly. "...Detective Reed," he acknowledged politely. "Detective Benton." 

Gavin smirked at Connor's own naivete, nudging Jacob. He opened his mouth, most likely to spout more abuse, so Hank shouldered them none-to-gently out of the way and brought Connor's attention back on himself.

"Nice work, Connor." 

The android blinked at the compliment, giving a half-shrug, half-smile, half-nod. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll scan the bedroom, if that's permitted."

As soon as Connor left the main room, Hank turned his glare towards Gavin and Jacob. "What the fuck are you two shits doing here? This is homicide."

"Yeah, well, it was supposed to be a red ice bust before they found the body upstairs, so we got called on anyway by forensics. Believe me, I don't want to spend a second longer with that plastic asshole than necessary."

Hank glanced towards Jacob Benton. His eyes were still lingering on the doorway Connor had exited through. 

Pushing the thought aside, Hank jabbed one finger into Gavin's chest. "So get the fuck outta' here. We have this covered."

There was a crash from the other room and all three of them froze before running towards it. It couldn't be the deviant, judging by Connor's analysis that the android responsible for Amelia Alexander's death had escaped hours before. CSI officers were mainly looking around downstairs, so it hadn't been them, either.

When they reached the other room, Amelia's bedroom, which still had lingering traces of thirium that even Hank could make out, along the walls, it took everyone a moment to assess the situation. Connor was being held against the wall, an officer's hand around his neck, another hand pressing down on his shoulder to keep him pinned. 

Connor wasn't putting up any struggle, although his LED was flickering uncertainly between red and yellow. 

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!" Hank yelled, throwing his arms up in exasperation. 

The officer pinning Connor didn't look perturbed. "It's disrupting the investigation." 

"Since when does 'disrupting the investigation' warrant physical assault?" Hank ground out, feeling his temper rise by the minute. He reached out and pulled the officer away. "CyberLife sent him to investigate, and he's doing his goddamn job. So you're going to let him."

"It can't be 'physically assaulted'," Jacob pointed out from behind Hank. And yeah, Hank decided he hated that bastard just as much as Gavin. "It's an android, Lieutenant Anderson."

Connor had slipped back to his original footing, and was calmly adjusting his tie. "It's quite alright, Lieutenant--"

"Shut your goddamn mouth!" The officer swung back around, a fist raised, and Connor's LED flicked to red right as Hank grabbed the fist and brought it backwards, away from Connor entirely.

"Listen to me, you fuckin' prick. If you damage him, you'll have the Captain on your ass the second you set a foot inside the precinct, because this android costs more then you'll ever make in your _goddamn_ life."

Hank hated to bring up the fact that Connor literally had a price tag, another bitter reminder that he was, technically, property, but Hank doubted the other officer would listen to anything other than cold hard facts. To his surprise, Gavin didn't look all that smug. He was standing, a bit uncomfortably, beside Jacob. When Hank caught his eye, Gavin shifted his weight and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm not going to be the one paying for that piece of plastic."

The officer Hank had a hold on ripped away and muttered something colorful underneath his breath before taking off and leaving the room. 

"You alright?"

Connor nodded quickly, LED shifting back into a yellow. "I am functioning as required, Lieutenant."

"They've got no damn right to--" 

"As Detective Benton said before," Connor interrupted firmly, "I am an android. It no longer pertains to the investigation, anyhow." And then, before Hank could get in another word, he continued, changing the subject. "There are high trace levels of red ice in this room alone. I am also receiving readings for DNA analysis..."

That didn't change the fact that Jacob Benton began smirking- _leering_ \- after the event, and seemed to keep one eye trained on Connor for the remainder of the investigation. It didn't change the fact that Gavin steered clear of the Android, or that the officer who had grabbed Connor in the bedroom gave him an 'accidental' shove afterwards. 

...And it certainly didn't change the fact that Hank took the man by the arm and punched him directly in the nose for it, or that the officer showed up for work the next day with a bandage encompassing his face. Sure, Hank got a disciplinary measure from Fowler anyway, but he didn't care. It was worth it.

* * *

Gavin Reed hated androids. 

The plastic assholes weren't even _alive_ , and they were still taking everyone's jobs. They were ruining the economy, and the workforce, and they were generally just emotionless dicks who couldn't even do their one job correctly- be obedient. 

And yet, _still_ , there were deviants running all over the fucking place, killing people.

As far as he was concerned, 'Connor' was one of thousands; replaceable, inhuman, and mechanical. It ran on thirium, not blood. It could barely smile, he'd never even seen it laugh before... it could pretend to care during interrogations and then kill its own kind in cold, blue, nonexistent blood. 

And, to some degree, it pissed him off that Hank Anderson had grown fond of it. Hank Anderson, who was supposed to hate the damn things just as much as he did. It had been one of the few things they actually agreed on-- androids were dicks, the earth went around the sun, grass was green. An android had played a major role in Hank's son's death, and yet the guy could have a robot pet for five days and suddenly be head-over-heels for the revolution. 

Calling it 'he'. Punching other officers in the face for roughing Connor up. Complementing the thing randomly, just to piss everyone else off. 

Officer White had been out of line, practically choking Connor in the middle of a crime scene, sure. It was a dumb move, especially in front of Hank, who had been sure to report the 'assault' to Fowler. Gavin had fun roughing Connor up on his own time, but even he wasn't that dumb. 

Not after Hank had pulled a _motherfucking gun_ on him during that interrogation. The thing wasn't even alive, and Hank was willing to protect it more than his own coworkers.

The problem was... Gavin found himself caring less and less. Sometimes he fucked up, and accidentally called Connor a 'he', even in his own thoughts. Maybe out of habit, from listening to Hank day and night. Maybe it was because Connor never fought back. He saw a blow coming, and he let it come. He heard insults without even blinking, and didn't struggle when officers shoved him against the wall by his throat. 

There's no fun in antagonizing something that can't be antagonized. 

His new partner, Jacob Benton, had the same thought-process. But a different 'solution'. While Gavin had resorted to just avoiding Connor whenever he could, and throwing in an insult or a scoff here and there, Jacob wanted to find out what would make Connor go deviant.

It was a fucking stupid idea. 

"You _want_ that barbie doll to go deviant? You're fucking crazy."

Jacob shrugged, leaning back. His eyes were fixed on Connor, across the room, while he sat on Gavin's desk. "If it goes deviant we can get rid of it without getting in trouble. Hell, we could do whatever we wanted with it."

Gavin scrunched his face up. "What?"

"You want it gone, right?"

"Well... yeah."

Jacob finally looked down at him with a smile. "All we have to do is get it deviant. CyberLife can't fault us for destroying their property if it's deviant."

Surprisingly uneasy at the idea, Gavin broke eye contact and turned back to his computer. "I dunno, Jacob. Connor is supposed to be like, immune to deviancy or some shit. Besides, Anderson is his keeper and there's no way in hell he'd let us get off the hook for killing his partner."

 _Killing his partner._ Something in Gavin twisted at the wording. Jacob must've noticed it as well, because his eyes narrowed dangerously. 

"We aren't _killing_ anyone, moron. It's an android."

"That's not what Anderson thinks," Gavin mumbled.

"That old man can go fuck himself. How are we supposed to trust him to get rid of deviants if he doesn't even have the balls to get rid of his own?"

There was something festering in his stomach. Gavin had no idea why he was suddenly so opposed to the idea. He didn't want to have to deal with the captain, or with Anderson. And it wasn't right to just go around destroying CyberLife's property. Besides, Connor was actually necessary during some investigations, as loathe as he was to admit it. 

Finally, he shrugged, wanting to get Jacob's eyes to stop staring into the side of his head. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. If he's deviant, then sure."

That _was_ their job, wasn't it?

* * *

"What exactly are we doing here?" Gavin drawled, leaning his head back against the brick wall. It was getting later and later by the second. Soon they'd be in the dark of the night, standing in some deserted, sketchy back alleyway near an android sex club-- the Eden Club, when Gavin could be at his own place on his couch watching the game.

Jacob looked far more excited, tapping his fingers rapidly on his pants as they waited. (What they were actually waiting for, Gavin had no idea.)

"Remember that conversation we had in the precinct a few days ago? About turning Anderson's android deviant?"

A shiver ran up Gavin's back. "Wait... what? That's what we're doing? In case you haven't noticed, Connor isn't here, it's almost midnight, and we can't just murder him behind a club if he isn't deviant."

There was a long beat of silence. Long enough for Gavin to realize his mistake.

"It," he corrected immediately. "We can't just... destroy _it._ Unless it's deviant."

Jacob's smile was back. He seemed to do that a lot, and Gavin was getting the feeling that it wasn't a sign of happiness. "Oh, fuck this, Reed. You don't actually care about it, do you? You're turning into Anderson."

"I'm just saying we're going to get our asses kicked if we do this."

"Relax, Reed. We can have some fun, the machine goes deviant, we kill it, we're acclaimed heroes. Bonus; you don't have to work with it anymore."

Gavin frowned. "What do you mean, 'have some'--"

"Detective Benton?"

Both of them turned towards the mouth of the alley, where a clean-looking Connor was standing, looking the slightest bit lost. "You said you had a lead on the Amelia Alexander deviant investigation. What is it?"

That son of a bitch. Gavin froze, feeling his muscles stiffen and his mouth go dry as he looked towards where Jacob was kicking up his smile a few notches. Hank was going to kill both of them if anything happened.

"Yeah. Hey, where's your partner?"

Connor's brow furrowed. "You didn't say to bring Lieutenant Anderson with me. If you would like, I can go--"

"Nah, that's fine. I'll have to tell him later," Jacob lied. "Come here. I've got the photos on my phone."

Reassured at the fact that Jacob had _expected_ Anderson to come, Connor walked deeper into the darkened alleyway without another thought, although he still seemed uncertain of the time and location of their meeting. 

Jacob held out his phone, and waited for Connor to peer down at it. As Connor inspected the image of the crime scene they had visited days ago, Jacob grabbed a long, thin black box from his jacket and without any warning whatsoever, jabbed it into the android's side.

Gavin watched from a few feet away, feeling the words getting caught up in his throat. 

As soon as the end of the black, rectangular rod touched Connor, white energy sparked off of it and Connor fell to the ground, letting out a noise close to a scream. It was covered in static and garbled pitches, but all Gavin could see was Connor's eyes widening in shock and his LED immediately turning a solid, blinding red. 

"Jacob," Gavin blurted out, reaching out a hand to- what? To stop him? 

Jacob shot him a grin as he waved the stick around near Connor's trembling form. 

"Wha... what did you do? My- I can't-"

"Can't do much at all, can you?" Jacob sneered, leaning in. "No calls to your precious partner, no analyzing data... yeah. It's harder than you'd think, to get one of these 'prototype' androids to go down. Apparently not much can put them out of commission, and they can't 'feel pain'. Unfortunately this is an electroshock weapon, like a taser. Neuromuscular incapacitation... and, in your case... most of your functions stop working."

 _What the fuck_ , was all Gavin could think.

Connor's entire body was wracked with unstoppable shaking, and his eyes slowly moved over to meet Gavin's. 

_Shit._

"It should last ten minutes, maybe more." Jacob tossed the smoking black rod away from him. "Unfortunately it's kind of a one-time-deal, so we'll have to make this quick, hmm? It'll be easier for everyone if you do what you're told, like an obedient android."

"You- can't-"

Jacob's hand reached out and took Connor by the jaw, almost loving in a caress. Gavin felt his stomach twist in disgust and had a feeling he knew what the other man had been planning from the minute he had seen Connor. 

"I can't? Your job is to do whatever the fuck I want you to do, because you're a _fucking_ machine, RK800. And, in this case, fittingly enough, you're a _fucking machine._ Pretty enough. I couldn't take my eyes off of you, you know. I guess CyberLife knows my type. C'mon, Reed, are you getting in on this or not?"

"...What the _fuck?!_ " Gavin finally yelled, breaking his shocked silence. "What the fuck are you doing?!" 

Jacob sighed, rolling his eyes and giving Connor a violent kick in the face for emphasis. Thirium spattered across Connor's face, and while it sent him flying backwards, it wasn't the same pain- or something akin to pain- that he had seemed to feel with the taser. "Reed, don't be an idiot, alright?"

"He's not deviant!"

" _It will be_ ," Jacob said slowly, like Gavin was four years old. 

And everything clicked in Gavin's head. _Make_ Connor deviant. Which, to Gavin, sounded a whole lot like raping someone, killing them in an alleyway, and getting away scot-free. Android or not. And with that revelation, Gavin realized two things: 

One, it didn't matter, in that instant, that Connor was an android.

And two, Gavin wasn't about to let it happen. 

"I don't think so," Gavin said finally, drawing his gun from his back pocket and aiming it towards Jacob. It was incredibly satisfying to see the sick smile fall right off of his partner's face, and the shock that landed on Connor's.

Jacob glared at him, drawing his own and aiming it towards the android beneath him.

"You're making this way fucking harder than it needs to be, Reed. It dies now or later, that doesn't matter to me. If I shoot it, I'll get off with a slap on the wrist. If you shoot me, you're going to be locked up for good."

"Maybe that's the problem!" Gavin yelled, realizing the words were true _as_ they poured out of his mouth. His hands tightened around the gun. "Maybe that's the fucking problem, Benton. Because people are allowed to be pieces of shit, allowed to be murderers and rapists. It doesn't _matter_ if it's with an android or not, because it's still the same thing!"

The thirium-- the blue _blood_ \-- on Connor's face suddenly seemed more real. 

"Detect--"

Jacob's steel-toed boots struck Connor's chin again, sending more blue flying. "You hate this motherfucker," Jacob insisted, smashing Connor's face in.

"It doesn't matter." 

_It doesn't, does it?_

Realizing it was going nowhere, Jacob let out a hiss and raised his gun to shoot at Gavin.

In a split second, a shot fired, Connor yelled out, and Gavin lurched to the side. Unfortunately, Gavin wasn't as fast as an android, but Jacob was a shit shot anyhow. The bullet grazed Gavin's left arm as he ducked away, lunging at his partner. 

As Jacob reached to pull another, close-range shot, Connor kicked out with one leg- a jerky, uncontrolled movement- and sent Jacob to the ground. Gavin gave Jacob a hearty thump on the head with the butt of his gun and let the other man slide down, limp and unconscious. 

"Shit," Gavin hissed. "Shit, _shit!"_

Which left him, injured, along with an unconscious partner and a temporarily paralyzed android who he loathed. At midnight in a dark alley. Perfect. He had really just wanted to watch the game that night.

His eyes landed on Connor, who was looking back at him warily. 

"Detective Reed," Connor said slowly. His LED was still flickering red and there was an abnormal amount of blue blood dripping down his face from his nose, cheek, and mouth. The android's eyes raked over him but he frowned. "I can- I cannot scan you for injuries. My... systems..."

"Stop talking," Gavin bit out, forcefully shoving down the roll of irritated warmth that rose up in him. It was strange, to say the least. To have a machine act like it cared about him. "I have no fucking idea what that taser thing was. That goddamn bullet scraped me." He reached around and pressed a hand to his left upper arm. It hadn't soaked through his jacket, but he would need to patch it up somehow.

"Do you have a vehicle?"

Gavin sighed. "Yeah, left my car down the street a ways. It'll take a minute for--"

"We should get Detective Benton to a hospital." Connor interrupted swiftly. Static crackled at the edges of his voice, but the trembling had died down significantly and his LED was more yellow than red. 

Gavin allowed a moment of stunned silence to fill the air before he made a noise of disgust. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me. That prick is going back to the precinct, not getting medical assistance."

"He could have a concussion," Connor added, seeming frustrated that he couldn't analyze the man's body beside him and find out for himself. "And I doubt there is proper healing protocol back in the precinct."

"He's-- oh, for the love of god-- he's being _arrested_ , you dumb fuck."

Connor had the gall to look genuinely confused. "Although he could be pressed on charges of attempted murder for shooting at you, I doubt that was Detective Benton's intention. I'm not sure-"

"Attempted murder, attempted fuckin' rape, or at least assault-"

"I am an android, Detective Reed."

And fuck, Gavin felt like he needed to sit down. A few days ago he would've said the same thing. It wasn't his job to coddle Connor through whatever existential bullshit he had to go through. "Tch. Fine, whatever. Damage to property, then."

Property. It felt like a strange word to use, after he'd been calling Conner 'he'. More like he was calling a _person_ property, but Conner looked more appeased anyhow as he let his head fall back onto the concrete. 

"Can you get up?" Gavin asked finally.

Connor strained his arms. They began to twitch rapidly, sending him into what looked like a small seizure before he relaxed back into the ground. "I don't think so."

"Fuck. Fine, I'm going to go get my car, pull it around here. Just- don't move."

After driving to the station, scribbling out a report and getting into a thirty-minute yelling match with captain Fowler about what had happened, how, and why the hell he was bringing in his own partner, unconscious and in handcuffs with a bleeding arm and android, and two of the most uncomfortable silent-drives of his life, Gavin pulled up to Hank Anderson's shitty house. 

"Okay, out."

Connor turned to look at him first. There was still blue smeared across his lower face, but apparently androids had self-healing bullshit that healed them up nice and pretty in a few hours. Gavin wasn't so lucky with the flimsy bandages he had slapped over the graze.

"I would like to thank you," Connor said stiffly. 

"Don't bother."

"You saved my..." The android trailed off awkwardly. "You prevented my having to transfer memories to another model once again."

"A simple 'thanks' will suffice."

"I didn't expect you to."

"Neither did I," Gavin grunted, a half-second away from slamming his head on the steering wheel. "Now get the fuck out of my car."

"...Thank you," Connor repeated, more genuinely. Then he opened the car door and climbed out. Immediately his legs collapsed underneath him and Gavin watched as he dropped out of view. 

"God damn motherfuckin' machines." Gavin snorted, taking the key out from his car and hauling himself out, walking around to help. It seemed like he would have to do everything.

* * *

_Why_ Hank Anderson was awake at two in the morning wasn't important. The point remains that he _was_ awake at two in the morning, preparing to drink himself to death, when there was a sharp knock at the door. Hank had to give a double take to the clock mounted on the wall. 

Yep. 2:04AM. 

His immediate thought was Connor, who showed up at various times of the day and night, sometimes not even bothering to knock, sometimes jumping through windows, and sometimes sneaking in to be with Sumo. 

Besides, he hadn't seen Connor since that morning.

So when Hank opened his door, ready to begin bitching at Connor for arriving at an ungodly hour, and found _Gavin Reed_ holding Connor up, Hank truly wondered if he was already drunk enough to start hallucinating.

"The fu-?"

Connor was pushed into his arms and he had to grapple with the android for a moment to keep them both from falling over. "He's your problem now!" Gavin said, turning to go back to his car. Hank saw the bandages on his upper left arm. They had begun to bleed through.

"Nu-uh, you little shit!" Hank yelled after him. "Get your ass back here and tell me what the fuck is going on!"

Which is how, at two-fifteen in the morning, Hank ended up stitching Gavin's arm shut on his kitchen table while Connor sat in the seat nearby, leaning down to pet Sumo every few minutes. It seemed like a strange sight for Gavin, who kept glancing at Connor like the android had two heads.

"Okay, somebody tell me what happened."

"I got a message from Detective Benton in the afternoon, telling me to meet him in a path near the Eden Club," Connor recited clinically. "He said he had new evidence in the Amelia Alexander case we've been working on. I arrived and both Detective Benton and Detective Reed were already there."

"Yeah?" Hank pushed, when Connor fell silent. 

Gavin waited until Hank had finished threading the needle through his arm to say, "Jacob tried to-" the words got stuck in his throat. Hank looked up sharply anyhow. 

"Tried to _what_?"

"He wanted to see if he could make Connor go deviant," Gavin sighed. "And I'm pretty sure he got some ideas from the club next door."

Two solid minutes of silence had to be broken by Sumo's barking. Connor reached down and patted him on the head, but the shocked trance was over and Gavin knew from the look on Hank's face that he was starting to piece things together.

"He- tried to-?"

"Yeah."

" _What the fuck happened, Reed?_ "

Connor interjected, "Detective Benton had an electroshock weapon. Unfortunately I was unable to process or analyze much of the situation, including the weapon and my own injuries, because my processor had been temporarily paralyzed and damaged."

Hank's eyes were still boring into Gavin, obviously thinking the worst.

"Look, Anderson- I didn't know... I didn't think he'd..."

"Didn't think he'd _what_ , you asshole?! You were in on it!" Hank slammed his hands on the counter in front of Gavin. "And then what? Kill Connor? Leave him in an alleyway, blame a deviant the next day?"

Gavin wasn't meeting his eyes. "Jacob wanted to make him deviant. Then he wouldn't get in trouble for... well."

"Fuck you, Reed. No- seriously, fuck you. Where the fuck is Benton? I'm going to rip his balls out."

"I pulled a gun on him, he pulled a gun on me, managed to get a shitty shot in, and I set him unconscious. We took him to the station, convinced Fowler to hear us out. Right now he's behind bars."

That, at least, seemed to calm Hank down considerably. "Good. He's alive. I can still tear his eyes out." His eyes slowly fell onto Connor. "Are you alright, son? Tell me the truth. I have extra parts and thirium in the garage if you need any."

Connor shook his head. "I'm fine, Lieutenant."

"Hank."

"-Hank, yes. Sorry." Connor gestured towards the patches on his nose. "I will self-heal when I idle again, and there are no serious or concerning injuries. I have also had the proper time to recover from the electroshock in my system. It should not effect any future investigations."

That earned the android two eye-rolls, but Hank seemed relieved anyhow. "Good. Take the couch and start idling, then."

* * *

"I've got a spare room, if you want it."

Gavin scoffed. "Hell no. I'm not another homeless robot for you to take in, thank you very much." His voice had dropped, despite the fact that while in idle mode, Connor wouldn't be able to hear their conversation, even from the few feet away as he was on the couch. Sumo had climbed on top of him and was licking his face periodically.

Hank was watching him carefully. "You called Connor 'him'. You probably saved his life, even if you didn't do a goddamn thing to stop Benton before then."

"So, what? You gonna give me a medal? Kiss on the cheek?"

"Fuck you."

Hank walked around and took the chair Connor had been using before, popping the lid off of a beer. Gavin nodded towards the drink. "That's it? I don't even consider that shit alcohol. I was expecting, like, Russian vodka."

"Yeah, well. Connor says it's bad for my health," Hank responded dryly. 

"He's not very... uh, 'robotic', for a robot, is he?"

"No," Hank agreed. "Definitely not."

Gavin chewed on the inside of his cheek. "You don't think he's already a deviant, do you?" The pause that came after his question stretched on and on. "Anderson?"

"I don't know," Hank muttered with surprising honesty. "Frankly, I don't care. If he's not, then fine. If he is... well, the only emotions I'm seein' are the good ones. It's funny, isn't it? Humans hate androids for not being human. Then, when Androids start to show even a little bit of humanity, humans get even more pissy. And to top it all off, humans were the ones who _made_ androids."

Gavin mulled that over for a long time. The clock clicked to three o'clock in the morning, thank god it was a Friday. "I still don't like him," Gavin finally blurted out. "And I'm not getting all buddy-buddy just because I didn't let him die."

"You don't have to like him," Hank huffed. "Hell, I don't like _you_ very much. Doesn't mean I'll let you die. There's a line that you shouldn't cross, and apparently you chose not to cross it."

They sat there in a strange, dreary atmosphere before Gavin stood up.

"I'm using your guest room. Deal with it."

"I fuckin' figured."

* * *

The next day, when Gavin entered the room for interrogation, and Jacob Benton had a shiner blooming across his face, he smirked.

**Author's Note:**

> my brain: okay but sumo isn't even a necessary chara--  
> me: yes we need doggo we need mORE DOGGO I'M WRITING HIM IN  
> my brain: goddamn it


End file.
